This weeks #Otalk is on the topic of “the recovery approach” and will be hosted by Jenny Hong (@OTJennyH).

Here is what Jenny had to say…

I’m currently in my last year of an OT course at Brunel University London. I have a range of interests in occupational therapy, from forensic and pediatrics settings to green care, animal-assisted therapy and recovery approaches. I’m continuously exploring every area I am exposed to in order to gain understanding, both personally and professionally. As most of my research currently focus on OT and the recovery model within mental health, I want to host a OTalk session to discuss and understand the different perspectives members within this profession have in regards to this area. I also hope this session provides opportunities for members to reflect on their practice and future work.

The recovery model applied to psychiatric settings is comparatively recent. The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) guiding statement on recovery includes guiding principles to deliver recovery-oriented mental health services (2005). At the beginning of the 21st century, the United Kingdom’s government policy and guidance took a recovery and hope approach to mental health and illness, as described by Rankin’s (2005) Rethink press release. Themes in this approach include recovery, employment, social inclusion, equality, and health improvement (COT, 2006). Mental health services are currently being redesigned under new policy and legislation to focus on integrating recovery, vocational opportunities, and social inclusion within communities to meet the needs of patients and in turn, providing equal opportunity and better mental and physical wellbeing (COT, 2006).

These recovery ideals closely align with values of occupational therapy in using a holistic, client-centred and client-led approach, highlighting strengths, monitoring outcomes, and emphasising hope towards recovery (COT, 2006). The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) defines autonomy to be “the freedom to make choices based on consideration of internal and external circumstances and to act on these choices” for occupational engagement and participation to lead a meaningful life (ENOTHE, 2004). Therefore, occupational therapy is pivotal and valuable to empower patient autonomy-promoting occupational engagement and supporting patient recovery. As the recovery approaches/principles are currently expected in occupational therapy practice, I’d like to explore how qualified OTs/prospective OTs perceive this.

So my questions to you are:

Have you used recovery approaches/principles in your work as a qualified OT? If so, did these approaches originate from the recovery model or OT frameworks/models? If not, why?

If you’re a prospective OT, how would you include recovery principles in your future OT practice?

Currently, there is no guidance for OTs to apply recovery approaches by RCOT. What are your thoughts about this? Should RCOT follow the AOTA and OTAustralia by releasing explicit guidance on this for OTs in the UK?